dermarr

SoCalHoops Summer Camp News

Dermarr Johnson Back To
Earth. . . And To School--(July 29, 1998)

The long drought for basketball news and information at the Long Beach Press-Telegram, which was began when Frank Burlison left that paper for the Orange County Register, seems to be over now that Louis Johnson has been officially promoted to the spot previously occupied by Frank. Not that anyone can replace Frank, but Louis is doing a great job of covering the high school and prep recruiting scene in a way that the area has not seen in quite a while. We can only hope that the LA Times will let Gary Klein do more of the same both during the season and before.

Louis actually covers the players he writes about, and has been watching prep basketball for many years. We had a great discussion with him at the Best of Summer about some of the best players, some whose reputations had preceded them, and some whose reputations were in jeopardy.

One player we both agreed on who was having a tough time at the Best of Summer was Dermarr Johnson (6'-9" Sr. F/C) from Maryland, who played on the DC Assault team. DC Assault was in the final of the tournament against the New Orleans Jazz, and to say that the Jazz hammered the Assault is probably an accurate statement. Following the game, we had a chance to talk with Dermarr, and he was extremely depressed. As he walked to the team van at the back of the Dominguez Gym, he could only say with his head down, "I can't wait to get on that plane and get home. This has not been a lot of fun for me."

Louis Johnson wrote a very interesting article on Dermarr today in the Press-Telegram, which basically had as it's premise that Dermarr is not ready for the NBA. We agree. The article, entitled, "Cons Of A Summer Reality Check Quiet Pro Talk By Schoolboy Star," which is sort of an awkward headline-ese way of saying, "Dermarr had a lousy summer, and now just wants to get back to being a top college prospect." Dermarr has struggled, and has also been injured this summer, and in fact other than the final of the Best of Summer, the DC coaches held him out of the round of 16 and the quarterfinal games because he had a pulled groin muscle. So it hasn't been a very good summer for Dermarr.

As Louis Johnson wrote,

"The Summer of '98 was supposed to be a crowning moment for DerMarr Johnson, an opportunity to silence all of the critics and naysayers who were beginning to question whether he truly was the nation's No. 1 high school boys basketball player. It offered a chance to play himself into the NBA lottery, and a shot at the untold millions that come with being one of the top performers in the sport.

But after a self-admitted July swoon - which happens to be the most critical month of the summer evaluation period - the 6-foot-9 swingman from Kensington, Md., has been left humbled by what he calls "the worst month of basketball in my life."

As a sophomore, many were touting Johnson as the best player in the country regardless of class. Obviously, that wasn't the case this summer.

And why? Well, according to Dermarr, he told Louis Johnson that "This (basketball) hasn't been fun since I was in the 10th (grade). I've allowed myself to get caught up in trying to impress everyone else instead of just playing my game. People at home in Maryland are used to me . . . I don't have to try and impress them," he said. "But out here (on the national level), I've got players from around the country trying to knock me down so that they can get up to where I am, and it's causing me to press a little bit."

"Everyone's asking me what's wrong, but you're looking at the problem right here," Dermarr told Johnson, pointing to himself. "Hey, I just have to get back to being DerMarr Johnson, and everything else will fall in place."